


Contrary Delusion

by AzuraJae



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Heavy Angst, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Takes place sometime in Season 2, post-Season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:22:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraJae/pseuds/AzuraJae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a simple mission. They were to go in and out without a hitch. Nothing more than an average day work. A mind was lost. It all for naught; stopped by a contrary delusion.</p><p>But truth is always a delusion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Contrary Delusion

**Author's Note:**

> Hey-ho, I have another angsty fic~  
> This times it centers around Shiro, but also Keith. I really like their relationship, but for this fic you can read it as platonic or romantic if you want to, up to ya :D I'm only going to sliiightly imply it.
> 
> Thanks to Beta Readers: Alphie (AlphaToronado), Candy (Kumihomiko), and Pix (PixoThePixel)! All these lovely folks can be found on tumblr!

After making sure the coast was clear, Shiro signaled for the rest of the data retrieval team, Keith and Pidge, to follow him. A few sentries walked by and Shiro motioned to follow close behind. He pointed at the five sentries and made a gesture that meant to take them out.

Without a moment to lose, Keith had already rushed ahead, slashing one of the guards and kicking one of the sentries into the other. Seeing that he had already acted, Shiro and Pidge briskly took out the remaining guards. They shoved the broken drones into a hidden corner and made their way to the end of the hall, where their destination was.

“Something doesn’t feel right.” Keith said as Shiro investigated the panel near the door.

“Yeah, that was almost too easy.” Pidge wondered, bring a hand up to her chin in thought. “If I was hiding data on Zarkon’s energy source here, I feel like I would put a lot more guards.”

Shiro stopped and looked at his two companions, before opening up the door  with his handprint. “Well, we made it this far, it’s too late to turn around. Might as well see what we can find.”

Keith looked at Shiro before giving a nod in agreement, but Pidge only gave him an uneasy look. Seeing his team so uneasy made Shiro himself feel uneasy, but he had to maintain a strong facade. Otherwise the morale of his team would crumble. He patted Pidge on the shoulder before continuing on their way. They entered another series of hallways and the three quietly evaded their way passed more sentries, taking them out with ease when they needed to.

“We’re getting close.” Keith said, looking at the tracker Hunk had given them earlier. “It’s just behind that door.” He pointed to the opening adjacent to where they were hiding.

Shiro and Keith were about to make a break for the door, but Pidge trailed slower behind causing them to stop and turn around. Shiro knew that she was still feeling iffy about this whole mission. Her uneasiness was not unfounded. There were a lot less sentries then they had initially thought there would have been. In fact, they hadn’t seen one Galra soldier commanding the sentries yet. Even Hunk and Lance were probably having an easy time getting their escape route ready.

Shiro turned and  looked at Pidge and noticed how distressed she looked. He licked his own lips and looked at the door that supposedly lead to the command room where the data was supposedly located. He was eager to get their hands on anything that might help them face up against Zarkon, but he understood Pidge’s worries. 

“We’ll hightail out of here as soon as we grab the info.” Shiro assured the paladin. “A communications center like this will have a lot of information about the Galra Empire.”

Soon after Shiro finished his sentence, the sound of lone Sentry exiting from a nearby snapped them out of their conversation. Being the quickest out of them, Keith pounced on the Sentry, slashing it in the head before it could even have time register what was going on. After making sure it was dead, Keith kicked it aside.

“Come on, let’s hurry.” Keith said, feeling annoyed. “We’re sitting ducks here.”

Shiro looked at Pidge, who gave a reluctant nod and the three quickly made their way to the designated room. Taking a peek inside, they soon realized that the room was empty. Alarm bells immediately sounded in Shiro’s head.

“There’s no one here.” Keith whispered, the confusion evident in his voice. “Where’s the Galra?”

“Lunch break?” Pidge said, half joking. 

Peering into the empty room, Shiro took a tentative step forward into the room, making sure he was quiet as possible. He turned to the other Paladins.

“Stay close behind me.” whispered Shiro. They only blinked in response.

Only after Keith had taken a step after Shiro did the door in between Keith and Pidge swish close. A distant alarm sounded, revealing that they had been found.

“Guys!” Pidge shouted, as the door suddenly shut before she could go in. 

“Pidge!” yelled Shiro in response, turning back to the door and putting his hands on the cold metal surface.

Shiro tried fiddling with the panel located on the side of the door, but it only made error sounds and was generally unhelpful. Meanwhile, Keith had  unleashed his bayard on the door, but the metal surface only scratched in his slashes.

“We’re trapped!” Keith said, exchanging looks with Shiro.

From the other side of the door, Shiro could suddenly hear gunshots. He banged on the metal door, praying that the Green Paladin was safe. By his side Keith was trying a different approach to open the door; trying to pry open the door with the tip his bayard in between.

“Pidge!” Shiro shouted through the door. “Get out of there, we’ll be alright!”

There were more gunshots, but it was followed by the sounds of falling metal. 

“I’ll get back-up!” said Pidge’s muffled voice, followed by battle grunts.

Frantic footsteps faded in the distance, followed by loud metal clanking and more sounds of gunfire. Although he couldn’t see what was going on, judging from the muffled sound coming from the other side, Pidge had supposedly escaped. Shiro activated his Galra arm and gave the door one more hard knock, but all it did was make a slight dent. Galra metal sure was something.

Keith looked at Shiro, worry was evident in his eyes. “Now what?”

“Let’s try to find another way out.” Shiro said, turning his back towards the door and looking out into the room out before them.”

“What about the data?” Keith followed in suit, staying by his side.

“It’s too risky to stay here any longer.” replied Shiro. “I didn’t feel it before, but this place has bad vibes.”

An odd subtle noise behind him caused Shiro to whirl around, but it was already too late. A flash of purple lights suddenly was knocked Keith away from his side, causing the Red Paladin to sprawl onto the ground with a painful crash.

“Keith!” Shiro shouted, but his attention was quickly drawn to the person who was standing in front of him.

“I’m so glad we could meet again, Champion.” the witch, Haggar said. Her yellow eyes peered from underneath her hood and she had, one could describe ‘pleasant’, look on her face.

Immediately realizing who she was, Shiro recoiled, remembering their past encounter. Activating his arm, he quickly back pedaled in the direction where Keith laid, who hasn’t gotten up from where he was thrown.

“Haggar.” spat Shiro. “What are you doing here?”

Before his very eyes, Haggar vanished and reappeared behind him, putting herself between Shiro and Keith. “To give you a proper welcome of course, fit for a champion as yourself.”

Shiro quickly retaliated by swinging his arm at her, but she ported away before the attack had a chance to connect. Before he knew it, a strong grip was around his neck. Despite her apparent frail demeanor, her physical strength was monstrous, almost as strong as or even stronger than Allura. In her grip, Shiro began to cough. His hand losing the power as he desperately clawed at her hands to get them to release him. To make things worse, he felt her hands start to radiate in electricity, sending webs of searing pain through his body.

“Shiro…” coughed a voice nearby. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Keith slowly getting up his feet, finally seeming to recover from his daze.

Shiro choked. “Keith, stay away-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Haggar had suddenly thrown him from her grasp sending him across the room. He felt himself hit the floor with a thud, but the pain felt somewhat distant and dull, like he somehow his mind was detached from his body. He was overcome with nausea and grabbed his head as it pounded with a painful headache.

His skin felt hot and his eyes burned. For a moment Shiro thought he was blind, but eventually his vision cleared up and he managed to push himself up to take a look at what was going on. 

The sight before him was unwelcoming.

Keith’s arm had been grabbed by Haggar as he had swung at her, but before he could force his way out of his grip, Haggar had ported behind him and sent a unique surge of electricity straight to his back, causing him to collapse. Seeing Keith in trouble, Shiro quickly scrambled onto his feet, trying to make his way towards Haggar.  but his steps felt heavy and he felt like he was dragging a ton of bricks. Nonetheless, he started to pick up the pcce, feeling anger boil in his blood, he drew out his hand out and swung at Haggar.

Only for his swing to be blocked.

By none other than Keith.

“Keith?” Shiro gasped in shock, quickly drawing back his hand and taking a few steps back put some room in between them.

He instantly noted something was wrong. Keith’s mouth was curled in an uncharacteristic twisted smile. Not only that, but his eyes were glowing yellow. Seeing how his friend looked right now chilled Shiro to the bone and he nervously took a few steps back again. Had Haggar taken over Keith’s mind? He wasn’t aware that she could do that, but then again, that scheming witch always had something up her sleeve. This was no exception.

“What did you do to him?!” Shiro shouted at Haggar, who merely smiled from where she was standing, in the darkest part of the room. Then suddenly, she vanished. “Haggar!”

WIthout warning, Keith suddenly charged at him and Shiro blocked his onslaught of attacks. Shiro noted that these attacks were messy and somewhat violent, much different from how Keith regularly fought. Sure, Keith can be hotheaded at times, but there was a certain swiftness to Keith’s battle style that  _ this  _ Keith lacked. It was sort of messy style, like he wasn’t sure where to swing or where to go. Almost like he was struggling to even keep up.

“Keith!” Shiro said, grabbing the sword with his Galra hand, looking Keith in the eye. “It’s me, Shiro! Don’t you recognize me?”

Keith’s face merely twitched slightly before letting go of the bayard. He took a single step up before winding up and giving Shiro a swift kick to the stomach, causing the other to let go of the bayard. Immediately, Keith tackled Shiro, sending him further back before scrambling to pick up his bayard.

As Shiro tried to get his bearings back, he noticed the twisted Keith standing at the distance, standing with uncertainty with a creepy smile on his face. Feeling angry, he looked for Haggar, but the witch was nowhere to be seen, having completely vanished from the room itself. Shiro was sure she wasn’t too far away; she had to be watching from somewhere.

“Haggar, show yourself!” He shouted, but his calls was in vain.

Shiro touched the comm system in his helmet. 

“Allura? Pidge? Can anyone hear me?” But his only response was static. Only then did he notice the small crack in the corner of his visor. The comms must be busted from the battle.

When Shiro looked up, Keith was slowly approaching him with his sword drawn. Feeling threatened Shiro decided that the best thing to do in this situation would be to subdue Keith and see if he can talk Keith out of it. If not, worse come to worst, that he’d be forced to knock him out.

With one swift motion, Shiro made a grab for Keith’s bayard and pulled it out of his hand, giving Keith a  solid knock back to get him to lose his balance. Instinctively, Keith  twisted his weight and tried to retaliate by ducking under Shiro’s arm, but Shiro used his own legs to trip the paladin. Shiro threw the bayard as far as he could before making a grab at Keith, who was starting to get up from where he had tripped. Keith. Shiro put his knee on Keith’s chest to keep him from getting up and grabbed one of Keith’s flailing arm with one hand and put the other hand on his neck; effectively pinning the smaller paladin to the ground.

Using hand on Keith’s neck, Shiro made Keith look at him, trying to get Keith’s yellow eye’s to meet his; hoping that would make the process of snapping Keith out much easier.

“Keith, it’s me, Shiro.” Shiro said slowly, trying to get the other to understand.

However Keith merely snarled in response and used one of his free hands to grab Shiro’s hand which was on his neck. Writhing, Keith tried to worm his way out of Shiro’s hold on him, but Shiro merely tightened his grip. The more Keith struggled, the tighter Shiro held him. On his arm, around his neck...tighter and tighter..and  _ tighter _ .

“Shiro, stop!” Shiro jerked up to see Allura standing in the doorway. Beside her were Lance and Pidge. All of them had a horrified look on their faces.

“Allura?” He said, bewildered, but he didn’t loosen his grip on Keith.

Allura suddenly pointed at one side of the room. “Lance, over there!”

Lance pulled up his bayard and shot at the dark area and Shiro suddenly saw a wisp of dark smoke. Had Haggar been standing there this whole time? Why couldn’t he see her?

“Shiro!” Allura shouted again, taking a few steps towards him, but didn’t come any closer. Beside her, Pidge’s and Lance’ eyes were widened in disbelief, looking extremely apprehensive.

Shiro was confused, the behavior of everyone around him was downright weird to him.

“Shiro!” shouted Allura again, taking a step closer and pointing at Keith. “ _ Look harder. _ ”

_ Look harder? _

Following Allura’s gesture, Shiro turned his attention towards Keith, who had mostly stopped struggling. He squinted into Keith’s eyes when he felt something leave his mind. Suddenly, as if a fog had lifted from his eyes, his vision  _ changed.  _

The yellow-eyed Keith suddenly changed to a badly beaten and bruised Keith. Blood trickled from his nose and from his mouth as he struggled weakly to get free. His helmet was bashed and cracked and he had a terrified look in his face.

“...Shi...ro…” Keith breathed weakly, choking from the hand on his neck.

Surprised and most of all, confused, he released Keith from his grip, who gasped for air before curling up on his side, coughing harshly before heaving once more and going limp. Now terrified, Shiro extended a hand towards Keith to see if he was alright before he caught sight of his reflection in Keith’s visor.

The person who stared back at him wasn’t him at all.

_ Someone _ with  _ yellow eyes _ .

_ Someone  _ with  _ a twisted smile. _

Someone that looked a whole like  _ him. _

Shiro felt his blood turn ice cold.

Suddenly headache from earlier came back from full force. He shouted in pain as he tried to get the pain to stop, ripping off his helmet and throwing sides. He took a few steps back grabbing the sides of his head as he fell on his knees. Shiro was sickened to the very core and he wondered if he would throw up. Only when he gave himself a good knock to the head did the pain started easing up.

As soon as the pain ebbed away, in a flash, all his senses became sharper. He was suddenly aware of the throbbing pain on his neck where Haggar had him earlier and the aching in his muscles and bones. His movements no longer felt heavy. The feeling can only be described like it was as if he had been underwater for a long time and had finally reached the surface. In his stupor, Allura suddenly appeared in his view.

“Shiro, are you alright?” She asked gently, but Shiro merely looked up at her in cold sweat.

He looked around her where he saw Keith laying motionless with Pidge and Lance hovering over him uncertainly. Only the uneven faint rise and fall of his chest indicated he was still alive.

“I…” Shiro said, his mouth suddenly cotton dry, feeling the panic starting to set in. “It was...me. It was  _ me. _ ”

The realization was  _ gut wrenching _ . All this time,  _ he  _ had been the one under Haggar’s influence.  _ Not  _ Keith. He had been the one who hurt Keith, not the other way around. He looked at Keith again, feeling his heart slow down and suddenly the room got way colder than it had been.

“No...I…” stuttered Shiro, his voice staggering in his throat. “I didn’t-” He started breathing quicker as Allura tried to calm him down. “I didn’t mean-...No...I thought…” 

He looked at Keith again and again, willing for his vision to chance once more, that maybe he wasn’t unconscious and wounded, but they didn’t. Keith remained still as Lance and Pidge began to move him. Shiro reacted harshly to gentle hand on his shoulder.

“I didn’t-” he choked, feeling hot tears in his eyes.

“Shiro, calm down!” Allura pleased, but her voice was faint, like she was underwater. “Shiro!”

It was like someone had turned on an old TV; all he heard was static. His mind recoiled into his own world, unwilling to face the reality. Everything around him had gotten numb. Shiro couldn’t even hear himself breathe. Was he even breathing anymore? Shiro couldn’t tell. 

All he could hear was the thumping of his own heart.

The blood dripping from Keith’s mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> The twist in this chapter is inspired by one of the chapters in Bungou Stray Dogs Manga. It was a really good twist and I decided to use it in a situation with Shiro and Keith, since it seems like it could definitely happen.
> 
> Chapter 2 will be on its way :>


End file.
